Baseline and postintervention assessment of sexual violence and condom use among female sex workers in a semiurban African community

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual violence, which usually involves forced unprotected sex, is very common among sex workers in West Africa. The incidence of HIV in the rural towns and villages is being propelled by risky behaviors such as unprotected sex more prevalent among key population groups including sex workers. The present study aims at comparing sexual violence and condom use among women in Brothel in Bonny Island to assess the impact of a 3 years community-based intervention. Methods: The present study is a quantitative study involving female sex workers in Bonny Island in two surveys; baseline and postintervention. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the information such as the demographics, sexual violence, and condom use. The data obtained were analyzed using the IBM-SPSS version 25.0. Results: There were 261 and 186 participants in baseline and the postintervention surveys, respectively. The majority 127 (48.7%) and 55 (29.6%) of the participants in both surveys were adolescents aged 14-24 years. Overall, 140/261 (53.6%) have ever been forced to have sex in the baseline study and 24/261 (12.9%) in postintervention. Those that have ever been forced to have sex without a condom were 68 (26.1%) baseline and 20 (10.8%) postintervention. Overall, 59.9% of baseline participants used condom in the last sexual act as compared to 89.6% in postintervention. Furthermore, 42.4% of baseline participants used condom in all the last 5 sexual acts as compared to 85.2% in the postintervention. In the baseline, 40.2% had problems using a condom in the past 2 months as compared to 3.1% after the intervention. Conclusion: This study found a drastic reduction in sexual violence against sex workers due to the community-based intervention. Furthermore, there was an increase in the use of condom among the study participants. It is advocated that community-based intervention should be encouraged and consistent in the HIV prevention and control programs, especially in the grassroots.